JCLC on the Road: October 2016

Trip Statistics

# of Nights: 85

Total Miles: 9,927

Average MPG: 17.3 (best ever! Lots of 55mph travel)

Average Camping Fee: $36, with only 3 free nights (2 at Eileen's; 1 at Kiwanis' free campground in Wyoming)

Trip departure delayed by Soberanes Fire in our backyard (almost literally).

Trip Goals

The purpose of this trip was to revisit places we have loved visiting to see which ones, if any, were ones we wanted to consider relocating to. We were looking for a slightly larger city area to be in/near for cultural and transportation opportunities, but also one where agriculture was prominent, there was a river, good air/climate, and more favorable cost of living than coastal California. The areas we set out to explore included:

Jacksonville, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
McMinnville, Oregon
Northwestern Washington: Port Townshend, Bellingham, Skagit Valley
Grand Junction, Colorado
Santa Fe/Albuquerque

Part of the route was determined by the availability of promising RV parks for sale. We had originally thought this was a way to kill two birds with one stone--we could get some acreage and build a house from scratch, while running a business to pay for it. We looked at parks in Oregon, Olympic Peninsula, Mt. St. Helens, Long Beach, western Colorado. It was clear why all these were for sale--they were 30-40 years old and were in dire need of capital improvements (electrical systems, sewer, water, roads). Simultaneously with scoping these out, we visited with a number of entrepreneurs and picked their brains: Inn Town Campground, Elwha Dam RV Park, Five Mary's Farm, Purple Lavender Farm. The major takeaway was that being open year round plus "slave labor" was essential to profitability; the Elwha Dam owner had 5 children who all helped extensively on his not-that-large park (52 sites plus tent camping area).

Because we had a other reasons for our trip (to attend the Grand Marais Skinny Winnie rally and visit the last few National Parks in the lower 48 we hadn't been to), we included Minnesota on our itinerary. We couldn't believe how much we enjoyed the Duluth area and all along Lake Superior, so we put that area on our relo consideration list. Further reflection on the fact that we were visiting in September (gorgeous weather) had us remove this from the list ultimately, but we did try it on.

Friends Visited

This is probably one of our only trips where we saw no family. We kind of snuck through Des Moines and Grand Junction, where I have cousins, as we were toward the end of our trip and I was fighting an awful bronchitis I'd had for weeks. We did, however, have a great time visiting friends at the beginning of the trip.

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Ginna and David in Jacksonville, OR

Seattle area: Korches and Mullinses, Tami and Mike, Lisa and Felina, Karin

Brother Aelred at St. Johns College, MN for a homecooked Vietnamese feast

Old friends at Grand Marais Skinny Winnie rally

Roadfood

Another anomaly for this trip is the short list of Roadfood. It just wasn't a priority, but then again, it could be that I'm not remembering well since I'm writing this almost two full years after the trip!

Voodoo Doughnuts--a famous Portland-based shop that pales in comparison to our ABQ Rebel Doughnuts

Pie and pie milkshakes (yes, where an entire slice of pie is blended into the milk/ice cream) at Betty's Pies on the way north to Grand Marais

Spam! We finally got to the newly revamped SPAM museum in southern Minnesota. I made a mighty fine Spam stir fry :-)

And we revisited a number of favorite spots: Northern Waters Smokehouse in Duluth, BBQ in KCMO.

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Firsts: Fortunate (and Not)

One Day 1 of the trip, we were hit by a travel trailer while parked for lunch (and the a**hole had the nerve to blame us!)

We had just fled a wildfire and were threatened (briefly) with another on the Olympic Peninsula.

We achieved a camping triathalon: hiking with Bago, biking, and canoeing in one day at our revisit to the wonderful Itasca State Park

Staying at the same RV park multiple different times on one trip: Lakehead Boat Basin on the Duluth harbor three times! and Lebanon Hills twice as we looped around Minnesota in between rally, RV repair, and reservations.

Got boxedf in! We arrived early one Sunday morning for a boat ride to a house on an architectural tour, but not weren't careful about guaranteeing ourselves a way to get out. We were boxed into a parking space for 1.5 hours AND the parked RV got hit again--in the bike rack. The good thing about an RV is that we were able to sit comfortably inside, use the bathroom, have a snack, and be immediately ready to back out when the opportunity presented itself.

Backed up gray tank into the shower and sink (no photo, thank goodness)

Front row on the ferry to and from the Olympic Peninsula

Winning about $65 at LCR at the rally

Finally getting the nerve to go into the Mall of America. We didn't last more than 30 minutes before the heeby jeebies forced us to flee...

On-the-Road Challenges

Brake fluid started leaking on one tire early in the trip. After we'd crossed the Cascades (and were literally in the middle of nowhere, trying to find our 90+ year old neighbor's small hometown to take pictures for her), we decided to call ahead to Spokane to see if anyone could look at our brakes (since this requires heavy lift equipment). Several places turned us down, but one fellow was nice enough to recommend a place that could take us. THAT fellow practically reached through the phone and shook us--he said we were in big danger and to get there IMMEDIATELY. (Thank goodness we were done traversing steep mountains!) He was so kind to us; even let us walk under the lift and inspect the undercarriage (no rust!). Only charged us $100, but made us promise to get to the nearest Mercedes dealer and get the proper part. Closest was Billings, MT Mercedes dealer (540 miles), and it turns out they wouldn’t help us once we got there. So we made an appointment in Minneapolis for in between our rally and our reservation on the Isle Royale ferry. I can't even remember now what happened, but it wasn't anything bad :-)

Side of the road on I-70, nowhere Colorado--tire blew at 70mph. Mobile RV per CoachNet replaced rear dual tire valves with brass on driver side. Turns out the Cat's Eyes hadn't been put back on properly (again) after the brake fluid leak issue, and they tore a hole in the tire. Thank goodness it wasn't a full blowout. We were able to limp to the next exit and wait in a church parking lot till the repair guy arrived. We even got invited in for a potluck supper :-) The worst part of the whole deal was pulling into a dark, state park campground along the Colorado River in the dead of night. It all worked out...whew.

Yet another Glassrite windshield repair, this time in Minneapolis. (LC went to brewery across the street while I waited with the coach for the repair)

Extreme heat in the not-usually-so-hot Pacific Northwest

Lichtsinn (the dealer who sold us our RV back in 2009) replaced a leaking tire valve on passenger side front (yet another tire problem) and installed a new microwave. We also found a much nicer campground than Pammel Park (which was closed due to flooding!): Pilot Knob State Park.

Wind (and snow) at Glacier and Eileen in her tent

Thunderstorms and flooding all around the northern Midwest: ND, MN, IA

Best Campgrounds

Sutton Lake Campground, National Forest. Boy, did we create our own luck here. Every campground for miles on the Oregon Coast was totally booked. We managed to GRAB the last site here because we weren’t picky and didn’t bother to look around like the others did. We just backed in and raced our money to the ranger and the sign then looked like this: